Ruby's closes Seal Beach Pier location

Though Orange County is seeing a boom in new restaurants lately, a few have announced plans to close in recent weeks.

The most surprising is Ruby's Diner in Seal Beach – a fixture at the pier for 25 years.

"Unfortunately, Ruby's current lease expired and negotiations did not reach an agreement. Ruby's Diner wants to thank the Seal Beach community and the city for a wonderful 25-year relationship," Ruby's executive vice president of operations, Tad Belshe, told the Register. "Ruby's intends to continue to seek out new locations as the company is planning for further expansion in key locations along the California coast."

The restaurant's last day open was Sunday. In a statement, Seal Beach said Ruby's "decided not to extend their agreement with the city." Seal Beach officials said they plan to replace Ruby's with a new restaurant.

"The city welcomes the opportunity to partner with a new establishment and will strive to preserve the elements that make visiting the pier a pleasing and desirable destination spot for residents and visitors," Seal Beach said.

Ruby's has other pier locations in Newport Beach (Balboa Pier) and Huntington Beach. Ruby's it has have no plans to exit those locations.

Other departing or closed restaurants include Bruery Provisions in Orange, Mr. Stox in Anaheim and Fio Rito's in Los Alamitos.

Provisions is closing its Old Towne Orange location Monday. The beer-and-gourmet-food shop, founded by Orange County's most celebrated beer maker, opened two years ago. It sold dozens of hard-to-find craft beers, as well as artisanal cheeses and wines. It featured a small bar and patio, where diners could enjoy beer and wine flights over plates of charcuterie, cheeses and deli sandwiches.

Over the past two years, the shop has expanded its retail service to include gourmet coffees, chips and salsas.

Though the shop was appreciated by a core group of local craft beer fans, it was "not the best use of our limited resources," the company told fans this week.

"As fantastic as Provisions is, it has taken a disproportionate amount of The Bruery's resources to operate. And I decided it would be best for the long term success of the company to focus on making beer rather than operating a bottle shop and beer bar," Bruery owner Patrick Rue said.

As of this past Monday, the shop stopped food service. Starting Thursday, remaining inventory (cheeses, meats, wine, non-Bruery beers) will be sold at a 30 percent discount.

Address: 143 N. Glassell, Orange.

Mr. Stox in Anaheim said it plans to close March 15. Last month, the owners told the Register they were selling the property to a developer who plans to build apartments in a section of Anaheim's Platinum Triangle.

Mr. Stox was founded in 1968 by Harry and Maureen Fahnestock. The critically acclaimed restaurant, known for its classic American cuisine, primarily serves an older clientele that appreciates "fine dining," owner Ron Marshall said.

In recent years, Marshall said, he has had to cut staff as foot traffic and revenue declined. Today, as more diners seek less formal, contemporary concepts, he said, the timing was right to sell.

Address: 1105 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim

Fio Rito's in Los Alamitos said it will close after nearly 50 years in operation.

"Sadly, our lease for Fio Rito's will be coming to an end," the restaurant recently announced on its Facebook page. The restaurant's last day is Jan. 27.